Brick queen builds name

ALEX knows so much about bricks that she has cemented firm relations with customers

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WALK into any Heywood shop with a house brick in your hand and the owner will probably duck for cover and call the police.

Do the same in the Bridge Street shop managed by seven-and-a-half stone whippet Alex Levell and she'll welcome you with open arms!

Alex, 40, is Heywood's undisputed "Brick Queen".

That's what builders far and wide have christened her as they home in on the brick matching service that Alex runs single handedly for one of the country's major brick specialists, Leigh Concrete of Warrington. "And I must admit, I quite like the title," she says.

One sharp-witted builder reckons that she has such an encyclopaedic knowledge of the thousands of bricks available, she should wear a bricks and mortar board.

Over the years, Alex has developed the uncanny skill of being able to identify - before you can say "Accrington" - any one of well over 2,000 rustic and unusual bricks.

The company is one of only a handful in Britain which run a specialist brick-matching service. When Alex talks about an antique royal, she's not referring to anyone at the palace, and a Caradale Red isn't a fine wine - just another brick.

The more unusual the order and the more Alex sees it as a challenge. With more and more old brick buildings being renovated these days, the service is in huge demand. And people in modern houses,too, find they can match the bricks to make it appear an add-on is part of the original.

Although Alex admits she's occasionally been stumped, more often than not she can find the perfect match for any brick, new or old.

There are even bricks to match those that have been weathered for a century or more.

From the outside, the showroom looks like any small shop. But inside, it's a tardis with many hundreds of different bricks covering walls from floor to ceiling.

Alex has worked there for only four years. She said: "I worked in the leisure and restaurant industry before, but this is totally different. I'm working flat out all the time, dealing with customers from Yorkshire to Cumbria, but I love it. I have a brilliant boss, Brian Burdett, in Warrington and he just lets me get on with it.

"I spend many an interesting evening memorising bricks. And to get to sleep I just count them. I sometimes dream bricks too," she joked.